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Monday, 26 September 2011

Why power leads to moral corruption

People in power should have magnanimous and judicious attitude; one can get plenty of examples of such situation when a person of higher intellect occupies position of power. However there are many instances in Indian scenario, where power of any kind leads to moral and ethical corruption.

One can wonder why is so? Why one has to go down the path of misuse and abuse of power leading to corruption when one can easily glorify himself and presume leadership position.

A person’s use of or more precisely abuse of power usually reveals the limitations of that person. Generally limitations reflect the intellectual and moral boundaries of the person. Narrow and prejudiced boundaries often lead to skewed ability to handle power for the common good.

For the person who has power, when dealing with any sector of society of which he disapproves (for example, class of higher intellectuals with limited or no power), he will abuse power during interaction with these sectors. Authoritarian morality produces abuse in the sectors of society, which are considered to be high in moral or ethical or intellectual ability with less power to simply prove his superiority by any means, often by means of illegality.

Why does this abuse occur?

Abuse occurs because the person’s psychological problems undermine his moral principles and corrupt his exercise of power. Power is neutral but the person is not. So power magnifies his intellectually challenged persona. Many intellectually challenged people are also around and can cause unpleasant relationship. However Unpleasant relationships that are manageable when he has no power become unmanageable when eventually he does have power.

The major psychological problem of man in power is that, he has a weak self-image. So power becomes the means to achieve self-validation. The man in power uses his power to augment his weak self-image. Instead of basing power on proven abilities, the person bases power on his vanity. The possession of power has the effect of magnifying the intensity of his vanity. Thus he cannot use power wisely in situations that he finds unpleasant. Which eventually leads to moral corruption.